IS THIS HOW WE EXPRESS OUR GRATITUDE TO THOSE WHO CARE FOR US?

As the Coronavirus continues to ravage our communities, our country and countries around the world, we are grateful to our doctors, nurses, allied health professionals and all of those who support the clinical enterprise. The majority of these professionals chose healthcare because they wanted to help people and to make a difference. They have been doing this for decades and they leave their families everyday and risk their personal health to care for those in need.

It is staggering to me as a former ICU nurse that we are seeing daily examples of our professionals not having the personal protective equipment (PPE) and ventilators they need to adequately care for their patients. In addition for the concerns of their patients, they are terrified for their own personal safety and the possibility of bringing this virus back to their family members. In the last few days, caregivers are dying from contracting the virus. We should be outraged as a country to find ourselves in this situation. Having states compete with each other for PPE and other resources defies conventional wisdom in times of crisis. No one would want a doctor or nurse caring for them wearing a four day old mask or even worse, a bandana from their homes. We should be better than this...

There will be plenty of time for "Monday Morning Quarterbacking" after this is over. Our industry and country will be forever changed as a result of this pandemic. Right now we need one voice, clear and accurate communications leading us out of this crisis. Right now, let's do the right thing and protect our frontline caregivers as they are protecting our families. We need healthcare professionals driving fact based, evidenced based clinical practice of medicine. Medicine is a data driven science and art and, "in the absence of data, any opinion will do..." Otherwise, we run the risk of our caregivers continuing to get sick, sacrificing their lives and further compromise our ability to care for those in need. We do not want short sighted decisions on our national conscious when this horrific event is over.

We are running out of time and delaying the support to our frontline caregivers is costing lives.

Stay well,

Chuck